Tyrann Mathieu was so old by the time he started to call someone mom and dad that he remembers feeling awkward using those words. No boy should remember learning to say mom and dad. No boy should wonder what he should call the people raising him or feel like he’s experimenting when those words finally come out of his mouth.

Predictably, the Honey Badger became a punch line. Everyone lined up to take their swings at this 20-year-old kid who is destroying his own football career. That’s true—his football career is in tatters. But that’s hardly the most important thing happening here. That Mathieu is one of dozens of athletes to fall apart is no argument against feeling empathy and compassion for him.

Can you imagine thinking or saying this? "I know if I have a child, I’ll be there for them, no matter what."

That's a quote from Mathieu from an interview with Sporting News in December. What has happened to a kid that he has to say that out loud, as if he has discovered a new and startling truth? For Mathieu, it was something new. He had to learn that. His parents didn’t model it for him. His mom gave him up for adoption, and his dad is in prison for murder.

He has had role models in his life. His aunt and uncle took him in and raised him. They are whom he finally started to call mom and dad. LSU coach Les Miles had a big impact on his life and so did a high school coach named Del Lee. But part of Mathieu doesn’t believe any of that is real.

“It’s two sides to me,” he said. “It’s that emotional one, who’s loving, who would give his all for his team, who would give all for his family. Then there’s that, I don’t want you to take it the wrong way, but there’s that confused guy, that angry guy, who doesn’t know where the anger comes from.”

Sports Illustrated reported a few weeks ago that Mathieu is going to be a dad. Maybe he’ll see in that baby's eyes some measure of what he's missing.

Amid all his heartbreak, there is one glimmer of hope: Mathieu is aware of his problem and expresses it. He knows his heart is broken, and he knows that leads him to make bad decisions. That beats burying it by a million. He knows he has problems, and he knows he should try to do good with his life, anyway.

In the interview, he used a football analogy to make this point. When coaches watch film, they draw a box around the ball. A defensive back who is within that box is in position to make a play. It was his goal to always play inside that box. He saw life the same way. He needed to stay inside a good box—make good decisions, surround himself with good people, go to good places, etc.

He hasn’t been able to do that.

Everybody loves a story about an athlete who has fallen and gotten up. But it was obvious last year and still is now that Mathieu is still falling.

Maybe he’ll finally hit bottom with this arrest. Maybe not. Nobody knows. None of Mathieu’s struggles mean he should be absolved of consequences. If he’s guilty of what he is accused of, he should face punishment. But let’s not forget empathy and compassion. We all need both.